"YUHJIN ROKETO SENTOKI - SHUSUI"(Rocket Fighter - Shusui) KAIGUN DAI 312 KOHKUTAI SHUSUITAI SHASHIN SHI (A photo history of the IJN's 312th Kokutai) Author: Shibata Kazuya Published by Dainippon Kaiga, August 2005, h/b Size: 15x21cm, Pages: 120, Photos: 196 b/w // 24 color, Price: 4,000 Yen Okay, this is a very interesting book to start with. Basically it covers the history of the 312Ku with plenty of photos and info on the members. There is a very good number of Shusui photos but with only just a couple new ones (what do you expect? That's all there is and it's quite unlikely we will see any more) There are some nice technical b/w illustrations of the cockpit and the engine but I wouldn't say very helpful to a modeler. A lot more helpful are the color photos of the restored Shusui located at Nagoya. But, all in all, the photos, illustrations and the general presentation would look a lot better if the size of the publication was larger. A very positive point is the translated in English photo captions. Oh, did I mention that it goes with a DVD? It does and I found it OUTSTANDING!!! It has two truly breathtaking CG Animation movies, one of the test flight (1:20 min.) and an imaginary B-29 interception movie (2:45 min.). Maybe not much you may say but personally I have seen them ten times so far and I'm going for my eleventh after this review. So, overall assesment: if you are looking to super detail your Shusui kit or you judge a book by counting the photos and color profiles, this one is not for you. If you are an aviation fan interested in history and more, then this book is definitely recommended.
	SENKI EIGA 8-RIKUGUN KOKUSENKI BURMA HEN (Record of War Movie 8 / Reprinted edition series - Record of Army air battle - BURMA Area) Released by Nihon eiga shinsha, Time: 91 min, (NTSC2), Price: 3,990 Yen only in Japanese; no English version. A vintage movie that covers air operations over the Burma area during the begining of the Pacific War. Excellent futage of bombing and recce missions by the 8th and (probably) the 12th Sentai as well as escort by Hayabusa and 97Sen of the 64th. Being a War Propaganda movie everything is in Japanese without sub-titles. Extremely worthwhile neverthless for the superb scenes of the "Sallys" and "Lilys". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
	SENKI EIGA 12-RIKUGUN RAKKASAN BUTAI KUNREN NO KIROKU (Record of War Movie 12/ Reprinted edition series - Record of Training of Army Parachute Unit) Released by Nihon eiga shinsha, Time: 55 min, (NTSC2), Price: 3,990 Yen only in Japanese; no English version. A SUPERB almost an hour movie showing all the stages of training of the Army Para Unit starting from the very first steps until the first drop and the first full equipment combat test. A War Propaganda movie, all in Japanese - no sub-titles. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
	"SHOGEN OHKA TOKO - Ningen Bakudan To Yobarete" (Testimony of the Oka Special Atack - Called Human Bombs) Compiled by: Former Jinrai Butai War Veteran Association Published by Bungeishunju, March 2005, Size: 16x22cm, Pages: 590, Photos: 124 b/w, Price: 4,000 Yen The ULTIMATE historical book on the Ohka written by the veterans themselves. Full of memories of about 25 former members of Ohka unit pilots. A complete operational record of Ohka missions together with technical data of the various types. A really superb effort essential especially to the Japanese speaking aviation researchers. (Is there any foreign publisher interested in obtaining the copyrights, translate, and print this fantastic book in English??? Aaarrrghh..)
	"TATAKAU UMIWASI" (Fighting Sea-Eagles) (Japanese Naval Air Force in Action) Author: Watanabe Yoji Published by Bungei Shunju, , March 2005, p/b Size: 18x26cm, Pages: 192, Photos: 400 b/w, Price: 3,150 Yen A VERY VERY VERY good book with MANY never seen before photos of IJN airplanes. FANTASTIC collection of floatplane photos. Three Reikan scratching the tops of palm trees at Penang; one of the best photos I've ever seen! And how about the other showing a Seiran taking off? And the one of the He112? ABSOLUTELY, DEFINETELY RECOMMENDED!!!!! BRAVO Watanabe san!
	"ZERO FIGHTER WATCHING" Author: Nohara Shigeru Published by Kojinsha, March 2005, p/b Size: 15x21cm, Pages: 128, Photos: 369 color!!!, 27 b/w, Profiles: 4 3-view sets, Price: 1,900 Yen The ultimate color presentation of the Zero-sen in a compact and handy publication. Featuring highly detailed walkarounds of restored airplanes of the main four types, A6M2b, A6M3, A6M5, A6M7. Excellent printing quality, large number of photos showing details and colors of most parts of the Zeros. A very very good effort! (Waiting for the similar one on the Hayabusa...) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
	"NIHON NO SENSHA TO GUNYOSHARYO (Japanese Tanks and Military Cars) Author: Takahashi Noboru Published by Bunrindo, March 2005, p/b Size: 18x26cm, Pages: 192, Photos: 256 b/w, Price: 1,800 Yen An excellent new publication full of photos and technical drawings. RECOMMENDED!!!
	"TOKUBETSU KOGEKITAI NO KIROKU" (Record of the Special Attack Units) Author: Oshio Kazuhiko Published by Kojinsha, February 2005, p/b Size: 15x21cm, Pages: 250, Photos: 202 b/w, Price: 2,350 Yen A small, compact and useful new publication by Kojinsha. Lot's of photos, maps and other material. Similar to the old MA#458 but without airplane profiles or markings. RECOMMENDED
	"ZERO- Monochrome collection vol.1" - DVD Released by Churoku, January 2005, p/b Time: 20 min, (ALL - NTSC), Price: 2,500 Yen The box set comes with a DVD, a small booklet, and a pre-painted model in 1/144. Absolutely nothing new in the DVD. Footage seen many times before. The worst is that it comes only in Japanese; no English version. An attractive effort for children, though, especially if they speak Japanese. NOT RECOMMENDED!!!
	"KAMIKAZE" Author: Yamazaki Akio Published by Miki Press, January 2005, h/b Size: 15x22cm, Pages: 447, Photos: UNCOUNTABLE!, Price: 4,000 Yen The book is about the record braking flight of the Mitsubishi Ki-15 "Kamikaze" from Tokyo to London and the early years of record breaking Japanese as well as foreign aviation. Excellent printing quality, full of never seen before photos...actually it's so full of material it's really impossible to describe or count them!!! Extremely well sourced, all in all a truly SPECTACULAR publication worth every single yen. A Treasure. Congratulations Miki Press. ULTRA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
	"SIRAREZARU NIHON NO HEIKI (1) (Less Known Army Ordnance of the Rising Sun) Author: Various Published by Garireo Shupan, January 2005, p/b Size: 18x26cm, Pages: 146, Photos: 245 b/w, Price: 2,350 Yen Part one of a very very good publication covering 30 different types of less known artillery, AA, Anti-Tank guns as well as mortars, mines, rocket launchers, a tankette and an armoured train. Full of photos and technical drawings. Waiting for part two! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
	NIHON RIKUGUN GUNYOKI PERFECT GUIDE 1910-1945 (Japanese Army Warplanes Perfect Guide) Author: Various Published by Gakken, Jan. 2005, Photos: 176 b/w // Profiles: 27 color // Side Drawings: 79 A general publication by Gakken. Most, if not all, the major types operated by the IJAAF are included starting from the very early days to the very advanced projects of 1945. An interesting book for those who can speak Japanese showing the evolution of the airplane designs. Very nice side-view drawings and excellent profiles but all in all not a recommended publication to non-Japanese speakers. I was unable to find even one new photo and I can't really see the reason why I added this book to my library... From the thousands of subjects on the IJAAF, Gakken chose to do a "perfect guide" that it's not even perfect. Again, NOT RECOMMENDED!(Cool cover though...)
	SENSHI NO SHOZO (Portraits of Soldiers) By Kohdachi Naoki Published by NESCO, Aug. 2004, 1900yen, p.343, 15X21 Photos: 246 b/w Interviews and memoirs of 24 Navy veterans, conducted by the vice-president of the "Zero Pilots Association", accompanied by lots of never seen before photos. An extremely interesting book. A MUST to those who are interested in first hand accounts. Only drawback, the language. Recommended!
	KAIGUN KYOKUTSI SENTOKI (I.J.N. Interceptor Fighters) By Nohara Shigeru Published by Kojinsha, Sept. 2004, 2350Yen, p.280, 15X22 The latest publication by Shigeru Nohara. An excellent small compact book dedicated to the IJN Interceptors. Combines the qualities of the FAOWs and the MAs. Packed with photos, illustrations, original drawings and blueprints on the: "Raiden", "Shiden / Shiden-Kai", "Senden", "Tenrai", "Shinden" and "Shusui". Highly Recommended!
	NIHON KOKUSHI 100 SEN SIRIZU (100 Key Chapters in Japanese Aviation: Volume 1) By Nohara Shigeu & Osuo Kazuhiko Published by Dai Nipon Kaiga, Sept. 2004, 3000Yen, p.96, 21X26 An interesting new publication. It's a combination of book and magazine including five mainly photo articles on various subjects entitled: 1. The Zero: Birth of a Prodigy, 2. The Destruction of Force Z, 3. The Bull of Japan's Air Defense: Kobayashi and the 244th Sentai, 4. Kamikaze-go and Nippon-go's Achievements, 5. Type 99 Carrier Fighter: The Zero's Cradle. Excellent printing quality, plenty of photos (few never seen before though), very nice profiles and illustrations. A very strong point is the English translation of the photo captions. It is intended to be published twice a year. I like the effort although I'm not totally satisfied. I'll wait to see the next volume. Recommended!
	UMORETA SOKYU (Buried in the Blue Sky) By Watanabe Yoji Published by NESCO, April 2004, 1785Yen, p.291, 13X19, h/b Photos: 119 b/w A very nice book containing 13 short articles and interviews of IJN and IJA veterans on subjects like, Special attack units, the "Sakura-Dan", the Shinden, the "Mukade" etc. The strongest point is of course the text (in Japanese) but the photos are also very interesting with some of them never seen before. A book by a well-known author that would be a nice addition to the library of the connoisseur.
	SUISEI YASHUTAI ("Suisei" Night Fighter Unit) By Watanabe Yoji Published by Kojinsha, Dec. 2003, 420Yen, p.285, 11X15 Photos: 57 b/w Another book by the same author, a small one this time on the night fighter units of the IJN that were equipped with the Yokosuka D4Y2-S. Very nice collection of photos and of course very interesting text in Japanese. Recommended!
	NIHON RIKUGUN KOKUBUTAI SENJO SHASHINSHU (Imperial Japanese Army Air Units Battlefield Photograph Collection) Published by Art Box, June 2004, 2200Yen, p.117, 21X26 The second book, this one on the Army. A very nice book (layout and printing quality) full of photos of Army a/c on the ground. Plus some excellent color illustrations showing equipment and uniforms. Plus some beautiful profiles. PLUS English captions everywhere!!! BUT, all in all it's yet another general book, a collective effort of various known authors, with photos that the majority can be found in other publications that offers very little (if anything) to the connoisseur. Recommended to the new-comer though. A final plus is the tiny Hayabusa model in 1/100. A cute one! So, get it because it's a good addition to everyone's library but don't tell me that I didn't warn you.
	NIHON HATSU NO ROKETO SENTOUKI SHUSUI (The first rocket fighter in japan) by Hisamitsu Matsuoka Published by MIKI PRESS, March. 2004, 2000Yen, p.246, 15X21 A very nice new book, the only known exclusively dedicated to this plane. Very good quality of paper and printing as with most MIKI PRESS books. It doesn't include the detail drawings that the old MA#525 has but there are a few very good, never seen before vintage photos and plenty in color of the Shusui now in Nagoya. Of course the strongest point of the book is the text but unfortunately it's all in Japanese. A GOOD ONE!
	AKATONBO SOUJUJUTSU (Operation way of Akatonbo) by Nohara Shigeru Published by KOJINSHA, Feb. 2004, 2200Yen, p.290, 15X21 The latest release of KOJINSHA, written by Nohara Shigeru. A surprising publication since there is a very good book in the FAOW series by BUNRINDO. Not bad as a book, of the same quality as the latest publications by KOJINSHA. Nothing much to add to the FAOW though. If the publisher continue like this, we might see some very interesting books about the Japanese Aviation, easy to find and fairly cheep. A good effort but not the best choice of subjects. Looking through the book one more time makes me wonder why foreign publishers don't publish books like this in English...